OBJECTIVES: This study examined the trajectory patterns of depressive symptoms of older rural Chinese adults in migrant families and the role of intergenerational relationships in predicting trajectory class memberships. METHOD: Data were derived from the 2001, 2003, 2006, and 2009 waves of a longitudinal survey titled The Well-being of Older People in Anhui Province. The sample featured 486 respondents who had at least one migrant adult children at all four waves...

OBJECTIVES: This study investigated variation across different old-age groups in the association between intergenerational support and elderly life satisfaction in China, taking into account both exchange patterns and different types of support. METHOD: Using the first two waves (2010 and 2012) of China Family Panel Studies, we applied the fixed-effect approach to examine the moderating effect of age separately for exchange patterns and different types of intergenerational support...

BACKGROUND: Because the pattern of illnesses changes in an aging population and many people manage to live well with chronic diseases, a group of health care professionals recently proposed reformulating the static WHO definition of health towards a dynamic one based on the ability to physically, mentally and socially adapt and self-manage. This paper is the result of a collaborative action of the INTERDEM Social Health Taskforce to operationalize this new health concept for people with dementia, more specifically the social domain, and to formulate directions for research and practice to promote social health in dementia...

BACKGROUND: Shared decision-making (SDM) is a means of allowing people with dementia to take part in making choices, be autonomous and participate in social activities. Involving them in SDM is an important way of promoting social health. However, including families and dementia residents in decision-making can be challenging for care staff working in nursing homes. The objective of this study was to identify barriers and facilitators regarding the implementation of an SDM framework for care planning in two nursing homes, one in Italy and one in the Netherlands...

OBJECTIVES: To identify caregiver profiles of persons with mild to moderate dementia and to investigate differences between identified caregiver profiles, using baseline data of the international prospective cohort study Actifcare. METHODS: A latent class analysis was used to discover different caregiver profiles based on disease related characteristics of 453 persons with dementia and their 453 informal caregivers. These profiles were compared with regard to quality of life (CarerQoL score), depressive symptoms (HADS-D score) and perseverance time...

OBJECTIVES: To examine people with dementia and carer preferences for home support attributes in early-stage dementia, building on the paucity of evidence in this area. METHOD: Preferences from 44 people with dementia and 103 carers, recruited through memory clinics and an online questionnaire, were assessed with a Discrete Choice Experiment survey, with attributes informed by an evidence synthesis and lay consultation. A conditional logit model was used to estimate preference weights for the attributes within a home support 'package'...

OBJECTIVES: Attachment style refers to a systematic pattern of emotions, behaviors, and expectations that people have for how others will respond in relationships. Extensive evidence has documented the importance of attachment security in infants, children, adolescents, and adults, but the effects of attachment among exclusively older adult populations have received less attention. The present study explored the relationships between attachment style in late adulthood and eudaimonic well-being, which refers to a life replete with meaning, productive activity, and striving to reach one's potential...

OBJECTIVES: Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) has been successful in reducing depressive symptoms in people with chronic-recurrent depression. However, the research evaluating the efficacy of this approach, and other innovative treatments for mood disorders, has mainly been with people under 65 years. This paper aims to help redress this imbalance by exploring older people's own reflections of their experience of MBCT. METHODS: A qualitative approach was used to explore 13 participants' experiences of MBCT; participants were interviewed pre and post-intervention and again after six months...

OBJECTIVE: Positive psychological factors (PPFs) have been reported to have a significant impact on health in the general population. However, little is known about the relationship of these factors with mental and physical health in schizophrenia. METHOD: One hundred and thirty-five outpatients with schizophrenia and 127 healthy comparison subjects (HCs), aged 26-65 years, were evaluated with scales of resilience, optimism, happiness, and perceived stress. Measures of mental and physical health were also obtained...

OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the relationships between social capital and preferences for aging in place among older urban adults in eastern China. METHOD: Quota sampling was used to recruit 456 respondents aged 60 and older from Gusu District, Suzhou City, in 2015. Random-effects logistic regression was used to test the proposed model. RESULTS: Respondents who had better quality family social capital, a higher level of social trust, and more organization memberships were more likely to choose to live in local communities, even after we controlled for individual characteristics...

OBJECTIVES: This study investigated the mental health of a cohort of 262 female and 168 male grandparents across the first two years of their transition to grandparenthood, with particular focus on the impact of providing childcare for the grandchild. METHOD: Baseline assessments were made during the pregnancy with the first grandchild, and subsequent assessments were at one and two years after the birth. The influence of demographic and psychosocial variables which could be expected to influence change in mental health from baseline was explored...

OBJECTIVES: An increased need exists to examine factors that protect against age-related cognitive decline. There is preliminary evidence that meditation can improve cognitive function. However, most studies are cross-sectional and examine a wide variety of meditation techniques. This review focuses on the standard eight-week mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) such as mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT). METHOD: We searched the PsychINFO, CINAHL, Web of Science, COCHRANE, and PubMed databases to identify original studies investigating the effects of MBI on cognition in older adults...

OBJECTIVES: Sleep disturbances are common among depressed older persons. To gain insight into sleep disturbances in late-life depression, their occurrence and correlates were assessed. METHODS: Baseline data of 294 depressed older persons of the Netherlands Study of Depression in Older persons study were used. A diagnosis of current depression according to the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders-IV (DSM-IV) was assessed with the Composite International Diagnostic Interview...

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to examine the effects of the six-week music-with-movement (MM) intervention, as compared with music listening (ML) and social activity (SA), on the cognitive functions of people with moderate dementia over time. METHODS: A multi-center randomized controlled trial was conducted on 165 nursing home residents with moderate dementia. The MM intervention protocol was developed based on a critical literature review, and tested in three rounds of pilot studies before undergoing testing in this study...

OBJECTIVE: Building upon the widely known link between physical and mental health, the present study explored the buffering effects of social capital (indicated by social cohesion, social ties, and safety) in the relationship between physical constraint (indicated by chronic conditions and functional disability) and mental distress (indicated by symptoms of depression and anxiety). METHOD: Using data from 2,264 community-dwelling older adults in the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP) Wave 2 (Mage = 74...

OBJECTIVES: The ability to manage one's life with some degree of independence, to fulfill basic obligations, and to participate in social activities are social functions that delineate the core of 'social health'. We examine to what extent clients of community care in Europe (n = 2884) complete such activities despite their cognitive problems. We focus on mildly and moderately impaired people, aged 65+ years. METHODS: Data were collected using the interRAI HC-Assessment in IBenC-project...

OBJECTIVES: Qualitative research has suggested that spousal experiences of discontinuity in their relationship with a person who has dementia (i.e. the relationship is experienced as radically changed) may contribute to heightened feelings of burden, entrapment, isolation, guilt and intolerance of behaviours that challenge. By contrast, continuity in the relationship may contribute to a greater sense of achievement and gratification from providing care. The present study served as a quantitative test of these suggestions...

OBJECTIVE: Individualized formulation-led interventions offer a promising approach for analyzing and managing challenging behaviors in people with dementia. Little is known about which individualized formulation-led interventions exist and what effects these interventions have on people with dementia and their caregivers. Therefore, the review aims to describe and examine existing interventions and to review their evidence. METHODS: An integrative review of individualized formulation-led interventions for managing challenging behavior in people with dementia was conducted...

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to analyze the combined effect of socio-demographic characteristics and activity level on coping strategies and to test which of these variables has a greater impact on coping. METHOD: A sample of 243 men and women aged 55-99 years old was selected from different elderly activity centers in Granada, Spain, using a convenience sampling. Associations between eight coping strategies measured by Coping Strategies Inventory and the above mentioned variables were examined using a Multiple Indicator and Multiple Causes model...

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this qualitative meta-synthesis was to search and then synthesise family caregivers' experiences of providing care to individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD). METHOD: A systematic search resulted in the identification of 11 qualitative studies. Noblit and Hare's seven-stage approach was used to provide a higher-order interpretation of how family caregivers' experienced the effects of taking on a caregiving role. RESULTS: The process of reciprocal translation resulted in four overarching themes: (1) the need to carry on as usual - 'the caregiver must continue with his life'; (2) the importance of support in facilitating coping - 'I'm still going back to the support group'; (3) the difficult balancing act between caregiving and caregiver needs - 'I cannot get sick because I'm a caregiver'; (4) conflicts in seeking information and knowledge - 'maybe better not to know'...